7/3/10

LAND OF THE FREE

AMERICA, O Power benign, great hearts revere your name,
You stretch your hand to every land, to weak and strong the same;
You claim no conquest of the sea, nor conquest of the field,
But conquest for the rights of man, that despots all shall yield.
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America, fair land of mine, home of the just and true,
All hail to thee, land of the free, and the Red-White and Blue.
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AMERICA, staunch, undismayed, your spirit is our might:
No splendor falls on feudal walls upon your mountain's height,
But shafts of Justice pierce your skies to light the way for all,
A world's great brotherhood of man, that cannot, must not fall.
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AMERICA, in God we trust, we fear no tyrant's horde:
There's light that leads toward better deeds than conquest by the sword;
Yet our cause is just, if fight we must until the world be free
Of every menace, breed, or caste that strikes at Liberty.
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AMERICA, home of the brave, our song in praise we bring-
Where Stars and Stripes the winds unfurl, 'tis there that tributes rings;
Our fathers gave their lives that we should live in Freedom's light-
Our lives we consecrate to thee, our guide the Might of Right.
ARTHUR NICHOLAS HOSKING